It was typical of the creative force that perpetually propelled the American jazz master's almost-unmatched 60-year career.

"He was great," Simon Rowe said of the seemingly tireless pianist, composer, humanist, civil rights pioneer and jazz ambassador. "He was lively. He was part of the discussion."

Rowe, Wynton Marsalis and Brubeck were sitting around Brubeck's dining room table on Nov. 15 in Wilton, Conn., discussing March's Brubeck Festival in Stockton and sketching out plans for an April 2014 tribute to Brubeck's imposing legacy in New York City.

Characteristically busy, engaged and looking forward almost to the end, Brubeck passed away from heart failure Wednesday morning at a Norwalk, Conn., hospital.

Today would have been his 92nd birthday.

"I feel extremely privileged to have seen him very recently," said Rowe, 50, who is helping perpetuate Brubeck's legacy as director of University of the Pacific's Brubeck Institute. "We're so thankful for such a wonderful productive life that touched so many people. He's a beloved member of our community and a community across the world.

"It's a rare combination of such high art during a 60-year career of such citizenship and cultural advocacy."

That career began in Stockton and encompassed the globe. Inquisitive and restlessly inventive, Brubeck - a 1942 Pacific graduate - helped transform and popularize jazz while making equally significant statements as a classical and choral music composer.

"I was able to talk to Darius (one of Brubeck's sons)," said Peter Jaffe, the Stockton Symphony conductor who collaborated with Brubeck and son Chris on orchestral projects. "They're still reeling. It had just happened.

"I count myself so lucky to view him as a friend and colleague. He's the most famous person I know who would just call me up on the phone. I will miss him sorely as a musician and colleague. I am all choked up about this."

Late Wednesday, the Brubeck family was preparing a statement to post on davebrubeck.com and his Facebook page.

Because of the 12-year-old Brubeck Institute - and its vast archival materials - Brubeck's name, artistic reputation and commitment to education and humanitarianism are closely associated with Pacific.

"Dave was an extraordinary man," Pacific President Pamela Eibeck said. "His creativity changed American music forever, and his passions for education and social justice had a powerful impact on so many lives. His imagination, wisdom and commitment inspired us all."

Brubeck's use of unconventional time signatures helped create West Coast jazz. His unerring gift for melody and interpretation established a sturdy recording career that produced 114 albums. His music and recordings continue being successfully re-packaged and re-released.

He was just as comfortable recording with the London Symphony as he was interpreting Disney songs.

He was very uncomfortable with injustice and intolerance. Early in his career, Brubeck refused to accept segregation and wouldn't perform if his bassist, Eugene Wright, was excluded.

"His greatest contribution sort of transcended music," said Patrick Langham, 42, a saxophone player and director of jazz studies at Pacific. "I mean by that, he had really strong stances on civil rights, apartheid and really, sort of higher-level causes. He was a great musician. A wonderful musician.

"I put him at the top of the list of great names. With Duke Ellington. Up there at that same level. Dave really sort of introduced a new way of playing with mixed meters."

That helped revolutionize American jazz in 1959. The quartet's "Time Out" recording - its sounds influenced by Brubeck's official ambassadorial trips to Europe - became the first million-selling jazz album and produced "Take Five," his signature hit he helped alto saxophone player Paul Desmond craft.

"That (1959) was a pivotal year in jazz," said Rowe, a native of Sydney. "There was a lot of flux in the art form. He was able to synthesize some of the innovation and forward-thinking. It's not often that some genius can pull together diverse streams and fuse them into a successful offering."

Born in Concord, Brubeck, one of three brothers, grew up on his family's cattle ranch near Ione. He attributed his fascination with exotic rhythmic patterns to the repetitive sounds of farm machinery. His mother taught piano.

Brubeck enrolled at then-College of the Pacific to study veterinary science. Quickly dissuaded, he started studying piano. His instincts for melody and counterpoint offset his inability to read music.

Meanwhile, he'd hang out at Stockton-area nightclubs, playing the jazz he adored but, at the time, was taboo at college music conservatories.

Brubeck graduated in 1942 - with the proviso he not teach - after meeting Iola Whitlock, who would become his life-long partner that year.

Drafted into service in World War II, Brubeck formed the U.S. Army's first integrated band in Europe. He also met Desmond, who would play such a pivotal role in his career.

After the war, Brubeck attended Oakland's Mills College, where he was tutored and inspired by composer-musician Darius Milhaud, who would help empower his adventurous musical instincts.

He formed the Brubeck Quartet with Desmond, Wright and drummer Joe Morello in 1951, honing their barrier-bending sound during long residencies at San Francisco clubs.

By Nov. 8, 1954, Brubeck had played his way onto Time magazine's cover ("Dave Brubeck - the Joints Are Really Jumping").

Brubeck, who still performed after turning 90, never stopped accumulating similar accolades and attention, including the Kennedy Center living legend award (on his 89th birthday in 2009) and lifetime achievement Grammy recognition in 1996.

"He was a huge figure," Rowe said. "He embodies that central current or thread that continuously remains curious and inquiring about the next possibility of how to meld this with this, jazz with classical, jazz with ballet or Middle Eastern.

"He always was looking for a way to shape his art."

Brubeck was preceded in death by his son Michael. He's survived by Iola; his sons Darius, Christopher, Daniel and Matthew; his daughter Catherine; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.